~ Don't Touch the Pipebombs

Tag Archives: Lucha Underground

Now THAT is how you do a special show – take note, WWE. Four nights of great wrestling, with several great matches and at one that’s got a lock on match of the year. Even though there are a few things I’d have done differently, but ultimately there’s nothing worth complaining about that much. There was a significant lack of vignettes which was a little disappointing but they had so many matches and not a lot of time for all of them, so that’s fine.

The first night had two matches. The first was Texano vs. Famous B with Texano’s contract on the line. Famous B got himself a partner after Dario allowed it to be a real handicap match and not just a symbolic one because of Famous B’s arm, and it was Dr. Wagner Jr. as expected. It was a quick and fun match – mainly comedic. The really memorable part was Famous B being flung from the middle of the stairs to the floor, but ultimately Brenda distracted Texano, allowing Famous B to get the rollup win.

The second night opened with a vignette that basically showed Ivelisse kicking Jeremiah to the curb after finding out he’s in love with Catrina.

The first match was a battle royal for a unique opportunity, which was fun. It ended up with PJ Black and the Mack, which was the correct two for it to come down to considering everyone who was in it. And Mack won, so that’s cool. And his unique opportunity was a Trios Titles Match with the Serpent Tribe with his partners, Killshot and Dante Fox, two weeks after killing each other in the Hell of War Match. (Although technically, one day or less because these were all taped the same weekend.)

Next was Ivelisse vs. Catrina, which was more of a fight than a match. It was fun – I wish it had been a bit longer, and I hear that a lot of it was actually cut for time. (It happens.) I still question Catrina losing the first match she has just because I feel like if you can teleport, you should never end up in a position to be pinned or submitted. Still it’s a long-running feud that the face should finally get her revenge, so it makes sense for Ivelisse to get the win – and it makes sense for her to use the stone in the process to do so. After the match Jeremiah came out and hit Ivelisse in the knee with a hammer.

And the main event of night two was Fenix vs. Marty the Moth, Mask vs. Hair. This was a good match, although it definitely wasn’t the caliber of the first week’s main event. Knowing that there really was no way that Marty would win, my favorite part of the match was Mariposa leaving Marty and then later hitting him with a chair when he tried to avoid getting his hair cut. Also why would he do the whole “Hell no you can’t cut my hair!” when he agreed to get it cut if he lost and he’s never shown an affinity for his hair at all? Oh well.

The third night started with Sexy Star vs. Taya in a Last Luchadora Standing match. Another very fun match but it still felt a bit short to me. Oh well. And if I’d done anything differently, I’d have had Taya win, because she really should have. Especially now after what’s happened with Sexy Star this year – but obviously they can’t be held accountable for it considering that this was taped in June 2016 and the Sexy Star stuff happened this year. Unfortunately it’s still tough to say what will become of Sexy Star in Lucha Underground once season four happens with all that’s happened – and hindsight being 20/20, Taya winning would’ve been better in the long run.

Next was The Mack, Killshot, and Dante Fox defeating the Serpent Tribe in a very fun match to win the Trios Titles. This was a lot of fun and I’m happy for the Mack, Killshot, and Dante to get themselves some gold before the season ends – they’ve all earned it. As much as I do like the Serpent Tribe, I only like Vibora on the level that I like all three of Mack/Killshot/Dante so I’m not really mad that they lost. It’s not like Vibora was pinned so it’s fine. I’ve loved Mack/Dante/Killshot from day one, and it’s been a long run for both of them without even touching any gold yet. They deserved it – Killshot and Dante had that match. I’m so happy for Mack to finally have a title, and it’s fitting that Killshot and Dante got their first titles too for several reasons. For one, it’s definitely a bit of a thank you to them for killing themselves in that first match. That, and it’s also somewhat of Dante’s redemption in the eyes of the fans – because even if he and Killshot aren’t the best of friends at the moment, there is NO way that the crowd can hate him that much after all that he was put through in hell of war. And it even carries on with Killshot’s and Dante’s story even more perfectly than just the Hell of War match did. I was ready to give Lucha Underground an Emmy just for the story and for the Hell of War payoff, but now you add this in and they should get all of the Emmys.

And the main event of the third night was Pentagon Dark vs. Son of Havoc in a ladder match for the Gift of the Gods Championship.This match was very fun and in parts brutal. The most memorable parts were Son of Havoc going for the Shooting Star but getting a Cutter for his troubles – aka, Shooting Star-KO. And also, Pentagon hit his piledriver through set up chairs to the point where Havoc looked dead. My only real qualm with the match is that Pentagon went and set up a table after this and after Havoc got up, threw Havoc through the table. It was really unnecessary – Pentagon clearly had the match won after the piledriver through the chairs and he did not need to take up all that time setting up the table and all of that when he could’ve just won. I know it’s in Pentagon’s nature to destroy people but I’m not sure that he wasn’t going to just attempt to win after setting it up because Havoc got up before we’d have found out. I’m almost wondering if that was an edit to the match or something because it really feels off to me. Regardless, I’m not mad Pentagon won, but I am a little disappointed for Havoc. I would’ve been disappointed for Pentagon if it was the other way around, because it was tough to pick who I wanted to win more. I think I did choose Havoc by a hair because it’s more of a sentimental pick, but hopefully he’ll maybe get a shot for the title in season four sometime.

The third night ended with a vignette showing Puma getting ready before his match on night four. Vampiro comes in and talks to him before Puma walks off, and then Vampiro knelt down and thanked someone he called master. Vampiro having a master can’t be good, I thought. I thought maybe “Oh shit he’s been taking orders from Pentagon this whole time” and it led me to believe what ended up happening on night four to happen.

And finally, night four started with Matanza and El Dragon Azteca, Jr. in a cage match. This was fun, although it was mainly just a Matanza match inside of a cage outside of when he Suplexed EDA through a cage wall and onto the floor a few minutes in. Melissa went to declare EDA the winner but as expected Dario said “Nah, pins and submission only.” Eventually they got back in the ring and once EDA starts to go on a comeback, who would jump off the cage and onto EDA but Black Lotus, making her return. She superkicked EDA into a Wrath of the Gods and Matanza won. A little surprising that she would cost EDA the match considering their business seemed to be finished, really. Regardless, she ends up low blowing Matanza and powerbombing him off the top rope, and turning to attack Dario before Matanza gets back up and hits her with a Wrath of the Gods too.

Next was the Triple Threat Elimination Match between Cage, Mil Muertes, and Jeremiah Crane, and this match was as great as I’d hoped it would be. Now, nothing on the show touches Hell of War, but I feel like this is the match that comes the closest. Hell, it even used another pane of glass that was leftover from Hell of War, and Jeremiah stuck something into Cage’s head that I still don’t know what it was. I loved it, and it was another match where I wasn’t going to be mad no matter who won. I think part of me was pulling for Jeremiah a little bit more than the other two, but it was still cool to see Mil win and his streak remains intact. But after he put on the gauntlet and did his usual pose with his fist on the mat, the lights go out, and Cuerno shows up and attacks him and takes the gauntlet – this being the first time we’ve seen Cuerno since Muertes beat him at UltimaLucha Dos.

Next we finally saw the wonderful documentary Taya made of Johnny Mundo and it was spectacular.

Next was our main event, Johnny Mundo defending his Lucha Underground Championship against Prince Puma, Career vs. Title. This match started at the top of hour two, which meant to me that either this would be a very long match or there would be a ton of shenanigans after it. Anyways, this match was great – I don’t know if I’d say it was better than All Night Long but it was great. Naturally there were a ton of shenanigans after a ref bump with Worldwide Underground, and then Angelico returned and helped get rid of them. And in the biggest travesty and injustice in wrestling officiating history, Rick Knox did a diving Senton onto Worldwide Underground because he’s an idiotic, biased referee who costs Johnny Mundo at every turn. I implore you to fire this man, Lucha Underground, or at least let Matanza eat his face. Anyways, the match would settle down and eventually Puma would pick up the win and I am sad. JOHNNY MUNDO FOREVER!

That would leave room for what I expected to happen once the title match started so early, and that was that Pentagon Dark cashing in his Gift of the Gods Championship for the Lucha Underground Championship match he was entitled to. However, Dario put both of their careers on the line in the match too.

It is a little unfortunate with the internet being what it is and the fact that we all know that Ricochet is done with LU after this show, so it does take a little away from it considering we know who’s going to win because of that. As sad as I am that Mundo lost the title, I suppose Puma winning is still the right move for two reasons – it was definitely the lesser of the two predictable outcomes, and it gives Puma a win at UltimaLucha before he’s done with the company which is cool. Regardless, we knew how this match would turn out. That being said, it was still good, and Pentagon not only was rested, but he broke Puma’s arm early on in the match to put him at even more of a disadvantage. This was cool also because Puma escaped his arm being broken by Pentagon on at least one occasion. Still, Puma looked like he was about to hit the 630 when, lo and behold, Vampiro pulled Pentagon out of the way, leaving Pentagon ready to come back and hit Puma with the Double Underhook Piledriver for the win.

Even as a Johnny Mundo fan, actually being mad at this would just be me blowing smoke for no reason. It makes a lot of sense for a lot of reasons. If you have a Mt. Rushmore of LU, it’s probably Puma, Mil, Pentagon, and Mundo. Puma has always been the guy since night one, while Pentagon grew to be the crowd’s favorite since early in his run. He’s been the heir apparent for a long time now – he’s always been more of an antihero and even at most times he’s really been the heel that the crowd just refuses to boo. Only at times when he’s attacking someone the crowd really loves will they boo, and even then, it’s shortlived. And tonight – the night of Puma’s exit – this was the torch being passed. Pentagon is now the guy, and that seems fitting. It’s the culmination of a three season story. And it seemed like Vampiro had secretly been taking orders from Pentagon all season and his entire thing with Puma was to set him up to be delivered to Pentagon on a silver platter like he was tonight. It also makes sense to get as many UltimaLucha main events out of Puma you can!

So, with seven minutes left, I knew there was going to be a long end credits scene, and it was awesome. It was in the same vein as the end credits scene from the original UltimaLucha, showing everyone doing something. I’ll mention everything I can remember, in no order. Puma walks out of the temple and leaves his mask. Sexy Star takes pictures with someone before a little girl gives her a music box with a spider in it, saying “She hasn’t forgotten about you.” (It’ll be a shame if we don’t get to find out where this goes, I almost thought they forgot about the spiders thing. ALSO WHAT ABOUT RICKY MANDEL AND THE PHOTOS???) Mascarita Sagrada takes the Rabbit Tribe to see the White Rabbit. Catrina is seen walking away and Jeremiah may be watching her. Fenix and Melissa leave in a car together – there may have been someone following them but I’m not sure. Cuerno is shown with the gauntlet in his trophy room. Back in Kobra Moon’s lair, Drago is chained up still, and Daga walks in with the sword he’s shown in the trailer with and he decapitates Pindar for losing the Trios Titles match for them, taking his place as Kobra Moon’s King. Vampiro is shown in his lair talking to his master, but he mentions Puma being gone and that he’s going to take care of Pentagon or something, and his master appears and it’s some mysterious person we don’t know. So that can’t be good. Matanza is shown locked up in his cell, and Rey is also locked up. And finally, Dario is shown having a drink with the guy who works for the lord and tells him he’ll get the gauntlet back, but he shoots Dario and leaves, briefly saying that new management will take care of Dario’s messes. Dario calls someone, possibly his father, and tells him something before he dies (or doesn’t die). And that’s it.

Pure insanity. What a season finale – what an event as a whole. Great matches, great stories moving forward, and so on. It touched on every story it needed to that felt like it was put aside for a while. This was definitely better than UltimaLucha Dos, and I’m pretty sure I’d put it above the original one too. I can’t wait for season four – let’s hope it gets here sooner rather than later.

Ladder Match for the Gift of the Gods Championship
Pentagon Dark vs. Son of Havoc
My Winner: Either, but Son of Havoc
Probable Winner: Son of Havoc
Winner, and new Gift of the Gods Champion, Pentagon Dark

Lucha Underground’s UltimaLucha Tres started this past Wednesday night, and it started with perhaps one of the best matches in its entire run. The Hell of War Match – the blowoff match to one of the most well done stories in both the company’s history, and in wrestling history itself.

Killshot has been around since partway through season one, although we didn’t get much backstory to his character until season two. He’s a former soldier who’s been through the many perils of war, and now that that life is behind him, he finds himself at the Lucha Underground Temple doing what he does best – fighting for survival. The title of this post is his words – he fights to forget, and he fights because he can’t.

In season two we saw him battle Marty the Moth, a demented character who stole his dog tags, and that feud capped off in the second episode of season three in a WMD match – another great match. Shortly thereafter Killshot was given a note that said simply “You left me for dead.”

Enter Dante Fox – a fellow soldier that fought with Killshot, and subsequently was imprisoned alongside him by the enemy, among others. Killshot escaped, leaving the rest to die.

They’ve battled several times over the season. Dante won their first match upon his debut, and after Killshot thought that was over, they teamed together for one match. But, of course, it was far from over. They continued to battle, and Dante would later go on to cost Killshot the Cueto Cup, and Killshot would attack him after Dante was eliminated from the same tournament.

This story was handled beautifully. It handled the perils of war without glorifying it much like many politicians love to do. It handled it without creating some bogus, tired narrative that WWE would give to you of America vs. foreign nation and all the xenophobia and racism that comes with that.

Then comes this match – which, because of how well the story was done, and how good a performer both Killshot and Dante Fox are, both of whom I’ve become big fans of – I was looking forward to this match possibly the most of all the matches scheduled for UltimaLucha Tres. If it’s not the most, it’s definitely in the top three. And it was the main event of night one of four – and if this was the first night, the rest of it will surely be insane. Although they have a tough act to follow.

As far as the match is concerned, it’s certainly not for the squeamish. It wasn’t called the Hell of War for no reason – it’s a 3 Stages of Hell match where the first fall was First Blood, the second a Street Fight, and the final fall an ambulance match. And while there are wrestling companies like CZW where this kind of violence is seen regularly, outside of Lucha Underground, I only regularly watch WWE and recently I’ve started to watch NJPW, so the level of violence in this match is not something I watch on a regular basis.

The first fall is the only one that closely resembles a wrestling match. While they were using weapons, for most of it it was only those you see in a standard No DQ match – chairs, ladders, etc. Killshot would essentially play Whack a Mole with Dante’s head poking out of a ladder, trying to hit him with a chair. Instead, Dante sent the chair flying into Killshot’s face. Killshot would later dropkick a chair into Dante’s face, before taking another hit to the head with a chair on the outside. Dante hit a sick parkour Moonsault off the apron, using the turnbuckle to flip over on top of Killshot who was on top of the ladder. Dante jumped from the stands and hit a leg drop onto Killshot who was laying on the apron with a chair on top of him. And Dante hit a springboard, top rope Spanish Fly.

Dante would eventually go and get a large pane of glass and set it down on two set up chairs so it was elevated off the ground. He would attempt to hit his finisher, the Foxcatcher (an elevated DDT) off the apron and through the glass, but Killshot countered and hit a Uranage onto the apron onto Dante. They got into the ring, and set the glass pane back on top of the chairs inside the ring. Again, Dante would try to hit the Foxcatcher off the top rope, but after Killshot blocked it, Dante would block what looked like a powerbomb into a back drop off the top rope, sending Killshot flying and crashing down the the glass, shattering it to pieces and tearing Killshot’s back apart as the crowd, who up until this point has been going crazy, gasps and then remains silent. Needless to say, the first fall goes to Dante as now Killshot’s back bleeding.

Following this, the match continues. But somewhere in here, the match ceases becoming a wrestling match and became the war it was described as. Dante hit a Lo Mein Pain on Killshot, flipping him off the top rope and through a set up chair, and hit him with a 450 Splash off the top rope while he was on top of a ladder. Killshot hit Dante with a superkick while he was sitting on the second turnbuckle, then planted him headfirst with a DDT. Then Killshot got a huge piece of plywood with many coils of barbed wire on it, propping it up against the ropes. Keep in mind all of that broken glass is still all over the ring. While teasing someone going through the barbed wire, Killshot hits his finisher, the Killstomp, onto Dante and Dante kicks out defiantly at 1. They both scowl at each other as they get up to their knees before Killshot knees Dante in the face, lifts him up and powerbombs Dante through the barbed wire plywood and the crowd loses it.

The look of pain on Dante’s face while the crowd chants “Holy Shit!” and both the referee and many members of the crowd have their hands on their heads or covering their mouths in awe says it all. Dante’s back is now bleeding where skin has been torn off. But that’s not all, as Killshot pulls Dante back up and hits the Storm Cradle Driver onto Dante, forcing his already mangled back to crash down into the pile of broken glass, which easily picks up the pinfall for him, evening the match at a fall a piece.

The third fall begins with several soldiers (real life or actors, I’m not sure) standing with a gurney ready to take one man off in an ambulance. And it started will Killshot suplexing Dante out of the ring, but as Dante falls out, he pulled Killshot out and DDT’d Killshot onto the apron. As Dante tries to push the gurney towards Killshot, Killshot runs and jumps over the length of the gurney and dropkicks Dante. Killshot brings Dante onto the top rope and hits a Death Valley Driver off the top rope onto Dante to the outside and onto the gurney. As Dante crashes off the gurney, he leaves behind blood and the literal skin off of his back on top of the gurney.

Killshot straps Dante to the gurney, but he escapes. However, Killshot hits a Killstomp from the stands onto Dante onto the gurney. Dante dives out of the ring and hits a flipping senton onto Killshot, and then he carries Killshot up to the platform where the band plays. He starts to choke Killshot with a guitar cord, staring directly into Killshot’s eyes – ready to kill him, pointing his fingers in the shape of a gun directly on the crosshairs on the forehead of Killshot’s mask. Killshot, however, finds a bottle and breaks it over Dante’s head. Dante wobbles before falling off the platform, crashing through another, larger pane of glass that was set up below. If you didn’t see Dante breathing, you’d have thought he was dead. (Characters legitimately have died in Lucha Underground, although never in front of the crowd.)

The crowd is eerily quiet now as Killshot slowly makes his way back down to the floor, picks up Dante, and carries him out of the war zone and puts him in the ambulance – winning the match, and more importantly, atoning for leaving Dante to die during war.

This was not only the likely conclusion to a brilliantly written, season-long story, but a masterpiece of storytelling. It’s not so much a wrestling match as it is art. As cynical as many of us wrestling fans can become as we watch it for years and years, it’s great to know that there are still performers like Killshot and Dante and writers such as those that work for LU and commentators such as Matt Striker and Vampiro, that, when all of their best efforts combine, can create such a work of art. Crying is one thing wrestling has rarely made me do – it’s mainly only happened after a death or a retirement – the only matches that I’ve cried from were the first four of five NXT Women’s Title matches on the Takeover specials from 2015. Until this match, that is. I found myself, a few hours after having watched it, still thinking about how brilliant it was.

A lot of people who don’t understand professional wrestling will ask you “Why do you watch that fake stuff?” because they don’t understand. Well, whenever someone asks you that, all you need to do is point them to this match. Because once someone watches it, it will change what they think of this art form forever.

Finally, a show worth talking about. This Wednesday marks the beginning of UltimaLucha 3, the WrestleMania of Lucha Underground, the show that will blow any WrestleMania in recent years out of the water. I am so pumped for this – the only downside is that it’s over the course of four weeks which means for agonizing weeks of work before I know everything that’s going to happen. But from 9/27 to 10/20 we’ve got four shows that I’m sure will all be excellent as Lucha Underground always is.

Now, before I get into the predictions, I was to mention a few things. First, some of the match graphics are crappy photoshops (Do you even call chopping things up in Paint photoshopping?) so I apologize for that. Unfortunately LU hasn’t put them all up on social media by now like they normally do so I did what I could. The ones that look normal I just screenshotted the images from the most recent episode after buying that episode on iTunes.

Also, I do know the match order but I’m not going to list it. However, I do know there are two matches that happen that are NOT announced yet but I have no idea what those matches are. A solid guess is Serpents vs. Rabbits for the Trios Titles and something that combines The Mack, Aero Star, Joey Ryan, Cortez Castro, and a few others I may haven’t mentioned. I want to throw PJ Black and Mariposa in there but who knows.

That being said, let’s get into it. And we’ll start with a poorly photoshopped one for fun.

Texano vs. Famous B
What’s that? You’re not surprised that Texano is part of the match I’m least looking forward to? Shock! Anyways, whereas I wasn’t interested in his first UltimaLucha match, this should actually prove amusing just because Famous B is hilarious. Also his arm is broken right now because of Pentagon so that should make it even sillier. Now, it’s being called a handicap match and I’m not sure that it’s just because Famous B has a broken arm or if he may end up with a mystery partner. Regardless, since Famous B gets Texano’s contract if he wins, I’m fairly sure he’s going to find a way.

Prediction: Famous B

Ivelisse vs. Catrina
This match was made for UltimaLucha Tres on episode one of this season. Let’s think about that – 35 episodes ago. You know when that episode aired? Septermber 7th, 2016. One year and twenty days before this match actually airs. But, this feud has been built since the original UltimaLucha. Catrina cost Ivelisse and company the Trios Titles after hitting Ivelisse with the stone, and then she cost Ivelisse her Lucha Underground Title match on episode one of season two, and she cost Ivelisse her match with Taya at UltimaLucha Dos. Catrina’s been fucking with her for ages and naturally we’ve wanted to see her get revenge. It’s unfortunate that Ivelisse got injured AGAIN this season and we haven’t seen her since somewhere in the first half. We haven’t seen her since 2016. But anytime Jeremiah and Catrina are on tv that counts as buildup. Regardless – as much as I love Ivelisse, her backstage attitude and her dumb tweets about depression notwithstanding, I can’t foresee Catrina losing her first match. I mean, Catrina can just disappear out of people’s clutches – how can she possibly lose?

Prediction: Catrina

Cage Match
El Dragon Azteca, Jr. vs. Matanza
The first half of the season ended with a Death match between these two, and now we’re getting a cage match after we’ve circled back around to it. So, what exactly did Matanza do to Rey Mysterio? Will EDA finally get the revenge he’s been seeking since he got to the temple? I don’t know. I wouldn’t be surprised but the smart answer is no.

Prediction: Matanza

Mask vs. Hair
Fenix vs. Marty the Moth
Fenix continues to be the one really good wrestler they have that I can’t get into. His character isn’t sympathetic and his attitude towards women when in matches against them is unbearably annoying. His match against Mariposa just pissed me off especially since I LOVE Mariposa. And Marty is awesome, but as much as I want him to win, I can’t imagine how he’s going to make that happen.

Prediction: Fenix

Ladder Match for the Gift of the Gods Championship
Pentagon Dark vs. Son of Havoc
Now while this kind of seems thrown together last minute since they don’t really have a feud, this should still be great. While Pentagon failed to win the title at UltimaLucha Dos and he’s still over as hell, it’s hard to not root for Havoc after being screwed out of the main event of this show by Dario at UltimaLucha Dos – and if he wins, he could still insert himself into that main event. And maybe he will. That being said I still want that main event to be one on one so I don’t really know what I want to happen. Maybe Havoc will win but Pentagon will be pissed and break his arm so Havoc won’t get the main event.

Prediction: Son of Havoc

Last Luchadora Standing Match
Sexy Star vs. Taya
Now this is going to be a tad weird after recent events in AAA, but this match was taped a year before that happened so it’s not really relevant. Still, Taya had better win, even though I’m fairly positive Sexy Star will win again. But now – moving forward, when season four happens (it’s going to happen stop pretending it won’t), it’s possible there won’t be anymore Sexy Star because of all that’s happened – so I’m hoping Taya wins. Also, is that spider story still happening with Sexy Star? Does it have anything to do with Ricky Mandel’s photos??

Prediction: Sexy Star

Hell of War Match
Killshot vs. Dante Fox
This is either the match I’m looking forward to the second or third most, depending. Dante Fox is fucking awesome. And so is Killshot. I’ve become such a big fan of Dante in a limited amount of time. And this storyline has been great and this match is going to be insane. It’s two out of three falls – I’m not sure if the falls will have stipulations. I’m not really sure if I care who wins that much – the winners are the crowd.

Prediction: Killshot

Cage vs. Jeremiah Crane vs. Mil Muertes
This match is also going to be insane. I love all three of them so much. And if I can just say, I’m so happy that Sami Callihan left NXT and is now here because him as Jeremiah Crane is everything he could have been in WWE and so much more. Now this is being called a Gauntlet Match and I’m not sure if it’s just because it’s for the gauntlet or because it could actually be a gauntlet match. I hope it’s still a triple threat. Also this is going to lead to the conclusion or continuation of one of the season’s biggest stories – will Cage keep the gauntlet and Dario and the mysterious lord get what they want to do Jeremiah or Mil get the gauntlet for Catrina to give to her mom, Captain Vazquez, so Catrina gets the amulet? I have no idea how all of that’s going to play out.

Prediction: Cage

Career vs. Title Match for the Lucha Underground Championship
Johnny Mundo (c) vs. Prince Puma
And finally, the match we’re all waiting for – Johnny freaking Mundo defending his Lucha Underground Championship against Prince Puma. The first main event of Lucha Underground – season one, episode one; the final two in Aztec Warfare 1 to crown the first Lucha Underground Champion; the first All Night Long match. Johnny and WWU winning the Trios Titles from Puma and Rey and EDA. And now this, the main event of UltimaLucha Tres, with Puma’s LU career on the line. This match will be great, we already know that. And sadly it’s a little anticlimactic since we know Ricochet’s not going to come back next year, so we know he’s not going to walk out with the belt. But we still don’t know if either Havoc or Pentagon could have anything to say about it.

Prediction: Johnny Mundo

Well, the review’s not for a month, so get some popcorn and enjoy the shows.

So after watching a video made by the best wrestling podcast by wrestling fans for wrestling fans on the web today, TWITWOW, last night (Go watch them all two people who read my blog), about their five favorite performers from different wrestling promotions, I’m inclined to do the same. I actually tried to do this post a few weeks ago but it felt like – what’s the point, just read the about me page on here and you can see who I like. But I felt like trying again.

Now, it’s not going to be exactly like their video – it’s not going to be based on the past four months. I don’t think I can weed out some of my overall favorites even if their booking in the past few months hasn’t been as strong. Some of them who may have made it may be affected by booking or injury, but not all. Also, I think I’m going to do a tag team one because I want to give them proper credit too and I don’t know if they’ll make the top fives. Also, some of them I may like too many people to not do a top ten – even though the top five of that would clearly be a top five, within WWE there are too many people I like to do just five without a ton of honorable mentions. We’ll see.

I’m not going to do an “Other” list like they did, because I only watch WWE and LU and I literally started watching NJPW last month. There’s only so much wrestling I have time to consume, and I felt like WWE and LU was enough. But since WWE is quite bad I’m trying to branch out anyway.

But, in the spirit of an Other list, here are a few people in the business that’s not in any of these promotions (or only just signed with them but haven’t appeared yet) that I like, or some others that I’m aware of but haven’t seen yet that I know that I would like: Kairi Hojo/Sane, Io Shirai, Mayu Iwatani, Toni Storm, Priscilla Kelly, Chuck Taylor.

My first list is going to be for NJPW, which again, I’ve only just started watching. My list, I feel, may seem weird to those who’ve watched it for a long time. I did just burn through a list of old matches from the past couple of years in the past few days, but I’m basically going off who caught my eye the most during G1.

So, last week on Lucha Underground – aka the unquestioningly best wrestling show on television – announced the Cueto Cup to determine who will get to challenge Johnny Mundo (or Rey Mysterio) for the Lucha Underground Championship at UltimaLucha Tres. Mundo will face Mysterio at the end of the Tournament to see who will be the champion – and I guess that Mundo won’t have to defend until then – which presumably won’t be for ten weeks because there are 32 competitors, and thus 31 matches, and 3 matches per show – that doesn’t leave time for much, so I imagine there will maybe be some that are off air or are really short and there are more than three on one show. I don’t know. BUT! They made a bracket like a lot of us wanted, so I am obligated to predict the results. Fuck March Madness, this is the Cueto Cup!

This is the template with the first round matches:

I have mine already completed and I’ll post it after I predict the whole thing. And, I just realized Matanza isn’t even in it, but I suppose it’s because we probably can’t buy someone beating him one on one.

So let’s not waste anymore time. I’m going to go through all four groups, then predict the Semifinals – which is Group A Champ vs. Group C Champ and Group B Champ vs. Group D Champ, and then the finals, the victors of those two matches.

Group A Quarterfinals

Aerostar vs. Drago

This is a match we’ve seen a lot over the three seasons – this will be meeting #7 or 8 – and even when they aren’t against each other, they’re often teaming. But, as I type this, I failed to take into account that Drago just turned heel on the last episode so the dynamic will be different. Fortunately I still picked Drago to win, which I think still happen because I don’t think they want him to lose so quickly – but hmm, maybe Aero Star will win. But I’m not changing my picks unless I can really talk myself out of them.

Prediction: Drago

Pentagon Dark vs. Argenis

This is a no brainer. Pentagon is just returning from having both his arms broken from both Black Lotus and El Dragon Azteca, Jr., and Argenis has mostly been a jobber while he’s been Argenis. So, Pentagon is the obvious choice. CERO MIEDO!

Prediction: Pentagon Dark

The Mack vs. Mala Suerte

Another really easy choice – outside of what they may do in the Trios Division, I’m not expecting anyone from the Rabbit Tribe to do much in singles. And after Mack’s performance in All Night Long and sudden death, there’s no way he’s not at least getting past Mala Suerte.

Prediction: The Mack

Famous B vs. Texano

I’m fairly sure Texano will go over, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Famous B pull some kind of shenanigans to win. In fact, I forgot the storyline they have where Texano is infatuated with Beautiful Brenda, so I bet she distracts him and Famous B wins. I’m going to actually change that pick.

Prediction: Famous B

Group A Semifinals

Drago vs. Pentagon Dark

The reason I was unsure about Drago vs. Aero Star is because I’m unsure if they want to have a heel vs. heel match here, but it’s LU, so that shouldn’t be an issue. I’m hoping to get a number of matches we haven’t seen from this tournament and I don’t recall seeing this one in a one on one capacity. That being said, Pentagon moves on.

Prediction: Pentagon Dark

The Mack vs. Famous B

While I think Famous B will pull some shit to get past Texano, I don’t believe he’ll be able to get that past The Mack.

Prediction: The Mack

Group A Finals

Pentagon Dark vs. The Mack

This should be pretty great if this is what happens. But, while I’m sure that Mack will be a very emotional pick in this tournament, I think the road will end here for him. I have Pentagon Dark coming out of Group A.

I imagine Pindar will get this one – plus do we really want to see Cage destroy Mascarita again?

Prediction: Pindar

Marty “The Moth” vs. Saltador

Similar to Mala Suerte, I don’t foresee his Rabbit Tribe cohort to go any further. Plus there’s a more intriguing story to be had with Marty winning.

Prediction: Marty “The Moth”

Fenix vs. Mariposa

This is a more difficult one to call because I know who I want to win and what match I want to see – as a big fan of Mariposa who feels she’s been underused post-Sexy Star feud – but her opponent is Fenix so it’s a tough call. I’m predicting Mariposa so we can advance the feud with Marty, but he could easily cost her the match, or just lose because no one will be surprised to see Fenix advance.

Prediction: Mariposa

Group B Semifinals

Cage vs. Pindar

This should be another easy win for Cage.

Prediction: Cage

Marty “The Moth” vs. Mariposa

This is a match I want to see pretty badly, but again, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this match not happen yet and that it will at some other point. I’m pretty sure we’re headed that direction, but that doesn’t mean it will happen in the tournament. But, it is where I am at the moment – and I want to see Mariposa win. I feel like if she wins, it won’t be the end of the feud anyway. And I want to see her against Cage.

Prediction: Mariposa

Group B Finals

Cage vs. Mariposa

I for one think this match would be pretty awesome. And while I’m pretty sure Cage + gauntlet is definitely marching his way very far in this tournament, I think Marty could cost Mariposa the match here. Either way, Cage moves on.

Prediction, and Group B Champion, Cage

Group C Quarterfinals

Vibora vs. Paul London

Paul London is gonnna die.

Prediction:Vibora

Veneno vs. MilMuertes

Veneno is gonna die.

Prediction: Mil Muertes

Jeremiah Crane vs.Killshot

This is a fairly tough match to call – I could see either moving on. But since I think we want a face vs. heel in the next round, I’m picking Killshot simply for that reason.

Prediction: Killshot

Joey Ryan vs. Taya

This match will probably be amusing. And I have Taya going over, because she’s one person I want to win this tournament badly.

Prediction: Taya

Vibora vs. Mil Muertes

Holy shit is this a tough match to call. Just when I glanced at the bracket and I saw who these two were facing in round one and was like, well they’re facing each other. I’m not sure there are many people in the temple that can beat Vibora, but Mil would be one of them. And I don’t think Vibora is winning the tournament, so I’m predicting Mil to win here because I don’t know who else would do it – besides maybe who I have on the other side of the finals, or maybe Pentagon Dark (whom you know by now I have winning group A.) But, if Vibora wins here, know that I expect him to at least go to win Group C.

Prediction: Mil Muertes

Killshot vs. Taya

I really, really want to see Taya move on again. I really do. And while it’s possible she could move on past Killshot, I’m not predicting it.

Prediction: Killshot

Group C Finals

Mil Muertes vs. Killshot

This would be a great match and I hope we get it. But, much like I said Vibora would win, Muertes to move on.

Prediction, and Group C Champion, Mil Muertes

Group D Quarterfinals

Sexy Star vs. PJ Black

As much as I love PJ Black, I don’t foresee them having Sexy Star lose in the first round. It’s not impossible considering the storyline she has going on, but I think Sexy Star moving on will provide a better story in her second round match if she does move on – so I have her winning.

Prediction: Sexy Star

Ricky Mandel vs. Prince Puma

Ricky may have the photos, but he’s not beating Puma.

Prediction: Prince Puma

El Dragon Azteca, Jr. vs. Dante Fox

This match should be great. And as much as I would love to see Dante move on, I can’t see EDA losing in the first round.

Prediction: El Dragon Azteca, Jr.

Son of Havoc vs. ????

This really depends on whom the ???? is, but I’m, going to assume it’s the other Son of Havoc looking person that’s in the trailers, and since that would confuse Son of Havoc, I assume, I have ???? winning. But if it’s someone else, like, Angelico if he’s healed up, for example, I could see Son of Havoc winning. Son of Havoc will definitely be an emotional pick in this tournament because of what happened at UltimaLucha Dos, and I feel like unless it is the evil twin guy, that Son of Havoc will at least go one more round into this tournament.

Prediction: ????

Group D Semifinals

Sexy Star vs. Prince Puma

I feel like a big story that will be going throughout the tournament will be Puma’s “turn to the dark side” with Vampiro, and I think one of the best ways to tell that story is to have him face off with Sexy Star. And while she’s not my favorite Luchadora in the temple, she is definitely the de facto “Lawful Good” of the Luchadoras in the temple – and I don’t think they’ve ever really interacted, so I think this would be an interesting meeting. Basically she’d be like “What the hell happened to you?”

Prediction: Prince Puma

El Dragon Azteca, Jr. vs. ????

While the unknown luchador may beat Son of Havoc if he’s the evil twin, his existence would be to mess with Son of Havoc and not win the tournament, so EDA moves on.

Prediction: El Dragon Azteca, Jr.

Group D Finals

Prince Puma vs. El Dragon Azteca, Jr.

Similar to the match with Sexy Star, this will be another “WTF happened to you?” match I think. And they had a great match right before UltimaLucha Dos. But Puma will move on. I think there’s still a bigger story to come out of this for Puma and it’s not going to happen here.

Prediction, and Group D Champion, Prince Puma

Alright, so we’ve gotten through the four groups, so we are at the semifinals! Now, again, these are obviously just my predictions, so they could be completely wrong. But to add to them, I think that the only way that Rey Mysterio wins the Lucha Underground Championship from Johnny Mundo is if Prince Puma wins the tournament. Or, if something I bring up at the end happens. But, will Puma win the tournament? We’ll see.

Cueto Cup Semifinals

Group A Champion vs. Group C Champion
Pentagon Dark vs. Mil Muertes

I don’t believe we’ve ever seen this one on one, and I’d love to see it. And, who do I see moving on? Pentagon Dark.

Prediction: Pentagon Dark

Group B Champion vs. Group D Champion
Cage vs. Prince Puma

We’ve seen this match a few times, but significant character changes have taken place to both of them so we’re definitely going to see a different match. Now, I think that a big story that’s going to come from this tournament is going to be what I see as inevitable – a clash between Pentagon Dark and Prince Puma. With Puma’s new alliance with Vampiro and everything that Pentagon and Vampiro have been through, this has to be where that story is going, right? And while that’s a match we saw last season twice, the first kind of had a photo finish and the second Mil interefered during, and there’s again character changes between both of them, so that’s going to be interesting. However, I don’t foresee that match happening in the tournament – that definitely seems like an UltimaLucha Tres match – and for that to happen, neither can win the tournament. (So I suppose that spoils my victor prediction.) But, I think we’ll see them interact, and then Pentagon will cost Puma this match, and that plus Cage with gauntlet will be the end for Puma.

Prediction: Cage

Cueto Cup Finals

Pentagon Dark vs. Cage

Well, by now you already know I have Cage winning, and I have Puma repaying Pentagon by interfering in the match to cost him it. It should be a really good match, though. Kind of makes sense for Cage to run the gauntlet and win, right?

Prediction, and Winner of the Cueto Cup, Cage

So, this is my completed bracket:

BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE!

I have one more thought on what might happen with this tournament. And, this could happen with ANYONE that wins, but I especially think this could happen if Cage or Son of Havoc were to win:

What if, like with the original Trios Tournament, Dario comes out at the end and says that the winner then has to face Matanza to win the Cup? It makes perfect sense to me for several reasons:

Of course Dario would give his brother a bye to the Finals. He did it for the Crew, and that’s just people who worked for him. Matanza is his brother.

Why would someone with the last name Cueto not be in the Cueto Cup? Also, Cueto really loves that cup.

Could we buy anyone beating him one on one before the finals anyway?

Why would he not want his brother in the main event?

Cage’s gauntlet has something to do with the gods, and Matanza has a god inside him, and apparently Cueto and the lord are up to something to get the gods to “walk among us” or something, so this could lead to that.

The first Cage/Matanza match was awesome.

The only reason I specifically say it could happen to Son of Havoc is because it would super screw him over AGAIN. He already lost the UltimaLucha Tres main event spot at UltimaLucha Dos and would obviously be an emotional pick going in. So for this to happen to him, when he’s already had that happen at UltimaLucha Dos, and hell, after he, Ivelisse, and Angelico thought they won the Trios titles until Dario brought out the Crew – even though they won – this is something that happens to Son of Havoc once a season, it seems. Now, I don’t think he’s going to win the tournament regardless, but think how much that would suck.

So, I think there’s a solid shot that that could happen. Also, this is the only other way I see Rey Mysterio defeating Johnny Mundo for the title.

Anyways, those are my predictions, and I can’t wait to see how wrong or right I am.

So the first half of season 3 of Lucha Underground has concluded and now we have to wait until summer for it to continue, so those of us who watch the best wrestling/television show will have to suffer at least five months of waiting for it to come back. This is basically just going to list where each character is at at the end of the midseason finale. I was inspired to do this after listening to TWITWOW’s (If you’re a wrestling fan you should be listening to them too) review of the finale and it made it seem like most everyone on that episode of LU is having a bad time – so I thought to myself, how many of the characters in the temple are actually having a good time this season? So I’m going to go through everyone – there’s got to be a few, right?

Johnny Mundo: For the most part he’s having a great time – he’s won Gift of the Gods and the Lucha Underground Championship (HURRAY!), but he did leave the finale having gotten his ass handed to him by The Mack.

Jack Evans and PJ Black: Also had their asses handed to them by The Mack.

Taya Valkyrie: I believe she is still injured at this point of the season, which sucks. So she’s not having a great time either, but at least she’s making an awesome documentary!

Sexy Star: She’s having a very bad time. Got screwed out of the Gift of the Gods by Mundo, and although she won the Lucha Underground Title in Aztec Warfare 3, she lost it a week later to Mundo and lost a rematch. And now she’s being tormented by spiders.

The Mack: He’s got a Lucha Underground Championship match against Mundo when the season returns and got the upper hand on World Wide Underground on the finale, so we finally have someone who is okay at the moment.

Matanza: Got put through a building by Rey Mysterio at the end of the finale. Presumable he’s alive, but that’s got to hurt.

Dragon Azteca, Jr: Got chokeslammed through bleachers by Matanza, may or may not be dead.

Rey Mysterio: His back might be healed, but his student might be dead.

Cage: He’s got a gauntlet that makes him even more powerful, but it’s draining him of his life. Or something similar.

Drago, Aero Star, and Fenix: Fenix and Aero Star have gotten Drago back from being captured by the Snake Tribe, but is this part of Kobra Moon’s plan to possibly get the Trios titles? Is Drago a double agent?

Kobra Moon, Vibora, and Pindar: May have just lost Drago back to his old comrades, but it might be their plan. Regardless, they have Vibora so they’re fine.

Rabbit Tribe: They’re fun but they haven’t won a match yet. But apparently Mascarita Sagrada is their God or something.

Prince Puma (Dark): Lost Grave Consequences to Mil Muertes, revived by Vampiro and headed down a dark road to revenge.

Mil Muertes: Beat Puma in Grave Consequences, but lost Aztec Warfare and is still being targeted by Puma. I guess he’s one of few doing alright.

Catrina: Involved in some kind of love triangle with Jeremiah Crane, boyfriend of Ivelisse, even though she loves Fenix

Jeremiah Crane: See above

Ivelisse: Has a match with Catrina and UltimaLucha 3, but is currently injured again and I am sad.

Marty the Moth and Mariposa: Marty seemingly turned on Mariposa after she lost to Sexy Star, and now Mariposa kidnapped him and tied him up, but apparently they’re both happy about this? What?

Killshot and Dante Fox: Killshot may have gotten his dog tags back from Marty, but his friend from the army, Dante, that he left for dead is back to make him pay.

Angelico: Injured again right after he returned and I am sad.

Son of Havoc: Got revenge on Famous B and Doctor Wagner Jr., still waiting to see what he does next.

Veneno aka Cortez Castro aka Officer Reyes: Dario found out he’s a snitch and had Pentagon break his arm. Came back in Aztec Warfare just to be destroyed by Matanza I believe. Now is deeper undercover and showed up just to get destroyed by Cage after he got the gauntlet and then by Sexy Star right after.

Pentagon DarK: Got both of his arms broken by Black Lotus and Dragon Azteca Jr. How fun!

Black Lotus and the Black Lotus Triad: Successfully got revenge on Pentagon Dark, uncertain on when they will return or if it’ll just be Black Lotus.

Texano: Aligning with Famous B just because he likes Brenda after having lost the best of 5 series with Cage

Famous B: See above

Joey Ryan: Got knocked out by a horseshoe by Texano.

Ricky Mandel: HE HAS THE PHOTOS!

Mascarita Sagrada: Got revenge on Famous B, now the object of the Rabbit Tribe’s affection.

Well, UltimaLucha Dos is over, and I’m going to be honest – I’m not sure how I feel. After the first UltimaLucha, I was all “That was the best show of the year.” After this show, I’m not exactly sure. I’m kind of annoyed at other things at the moment too, so perhaps I’m not looking at things with a level head. But there are definitely things about this show that rubbed me the wrong way. I think it’s mainly that there was a lot of interference on the final part that bugged me. And really, only one of those I have a real issue with, but we’ll get there.

The opening match of Part 1 was Cage vs. The Mack in a Falls Count Anywhere match in the semifinals of the Unique Opportunity Tournament. This match was great, and I think it might be better than their match at UltimaLucha last year. It was brutal, and also had a lot of callbacks to the first match. And, I was pleasantly surprised to see The Mack win. It was a legit shock – I thought Cage would win the whole thing.

Son of Havoc defeated Texano in the other semifinal match, in a Boyle Heights Bar Fight. Another fun match, although it didn’t live up to Cage and Mack, mainly because of Texano. But Texano got put through an entire bar, so that was fun.

I was very pleased to see Son of Havoc win the tournament by defeating The Mack in a good match. It was a Falls Count Anywhere match too, but it didn’t use that stip much.

The unique opportunity was either $250,000 or a title shot at UltimaLucha Tres, so obviously Havoc took the title match. But since Dario apparently wanted to give out the money as much as possible, he offered that to Famous B’s new client, Dr. Wagner Jr, and the winner of the match will get what they picked. Havoc got some hope spots, but Dr Wagner Jr. got the win.

Part 2 saw Sexy Star win the Gift of the Gods Championship, as expected, in a really good match. I think my favorite part of the match was the new guy, Night Claw. He really impressed me. He got two eliminations – Siniestro and Daga – before Killshot eliminated him. Mariposa and Marty vs. Killshot and Sexy Star was the story of the rest of the match. Killshot was eliminated first, and Sexy Star overcame the double team to win. Happy for her, although I was hoping for Mariposa or Marty to win.

Mil Muertes vs. Cuerno in a Death Match was a little underwhelming to me. It wasn’t bad or anything, but it just seemed like a typical hardcore match to me. And then once Cuerno put his hands on Catrina, Mil went berserk and just killed Cuerno – Speared through one table, powerbombed through three others, hit on the head with a crowbar, and a Tombstone. Dead.

Speaking of dead, Mr. Cisco wore a wire to try to incriminate Dario, did a terrible job of it, and got killed by the bull statue.

And the final part opened with Pentagon fighting multiple versions of himself and becoming “Pentagon Dark.”

Johnny Mundo, Jack Evans, and PJ Black defended and lost their Trios titles to Fenix, Drago, and Aero Star in a rather good but crazy match. The Aerial Assholes went full Aerial Asshole on the three of them and cheated as much as they could, and if Rick Knox wasn’t a bad ref, they would’ve retained after a triple belt shot. But after the kickout, Angelico returned and attacked Mundo – alluding to Mundo being his attacker – and because of that, we have new Trios champs. I can live with that.

My biggest issue I think is that Dragon Azteca, Jr. vs. Black Lotus kind of got ruined by Pentagon Dark. I was enjoying the match and then Pentagon just rushed in and broke both of their arms before cutting a promo. I really would’ve liked to see that match have a conclusion – Pentagon could attack them after if he wanted, but to end the match without a real winner really does bother me.

Since apparently Pentagon Dark wanted his title match immediately, the main event of the show happened here. I don’t agree with the title match not being last. Also, I’m not sure how much I liked the match. Pentagon just destroyed Matanza for what seemed like forever, which made me think Pentagon was going to win and just kind of make Matanza look like a bitch. And that would’ve bothered me a lot. Pentagon didn’t seem to be ready for Matanza until tonight, but in the end, Matanza reversed an Irish whip into a chair by forcing Pentagon into it, then hit some of his signature offense. Vampiro gave Pentagon a barbed wire 2×4 to use, but Dario got in the ring, and Pentagon became distracted enough for Matanza to hit him with the baseball bat and then Wrath of the Gods, and Matanza retained. And after how the match went, I think I agree with that now more than I thought I was going to. I wanted Pentagon to win, but I feel like this would’ve destroyed the “Unbeatable” image Matanza has, and that would’ve bothered me. So that’s fine. Pentagon shoved Vampiro away before leaving.

Taya vs. Ivelisse was a very enjoyable match, but right when Ivelisse was about to win, Catrina used her Warehouse 13 caretaker powers to show up and hit Ivelisse with a move that seemed similar to I believe her name was Roxy Laveaux in TNA’s finisher – and then Taya hit her finisher after Catrina disappeared for the win. At this point there was three different sets of interference tonight, and it was a bit annoying to be honest. They can all set up different storylines for season three, but it was a bit disappointing.

And the main event of Prince Puma vs. Rey Mysterio was great. Amazing match, but Rey winning is very questionable at best. There’s really not enough reason to put Rey over Puma – Puma is the star and Rey is a legend. Rey winning is a WWE move, and Lucha Underground is better than this.

We cut to Matt Striker and Vampiro talking for a bit, but Pentagon shows up, takes out Striker, and then just annihilates Vampiro in the ring with the barbed wire baseball bat and cutting a promo, saying he’s the master now and starts licking his blood.

And the show ends with Dario going away in cuffs, but before it fades to black, he looks up with an evil smile.

We still don’t know who the lord is, or who he called on the phone at the end of part two and said that it was time to.

Overall, it was a very enjoyable show, but I can’t say it was better than the first one, I think. It seemed like an advertisement for season 3, which is fine. It wasn’t bad by any means, but I think we all probably just set such high expectations and it didn’t quite hit that level. But I’m still excited as fuck for season 3. Is it season 3 yet?

That’s right, the best wrestling show of the year is almost upon us. It’s not WrestleMania, it’s not NXT Takeover Brooklyn, it’s not Wrestle Kingdom, it’s UltimaLucha Dos. It’s almost been a full year since the first UltimaLucha took the wrestling world by storm, and the second season of LU has certainly lived up to the first one. And the best part is, season three just finished taping last weekend and it won’t be too long before it’s back on. So, really, at this point – if you are a wrestling fan and you aren’t watching Lucha Underground, the real question is – assuming you get the network it’s on which most do – WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?

Unique Opportunity Tournament
Cage, Son of Havoc, The Mack, Texano
The first show of UltimaLucha Dos will have this tournament on it. The winner gets a unique opportunity that we don’t know yet – previous unique opportunities were title shots where if you lose you get banished from the temple or things like that – and we won’t know until there is a winner. My guess was that they get to be Famous B’s client to fight Mascarita Sagrada but that’s not a big enough deal so I doubt that. Ideally, since we don’t know the matches, I would like Cage to squash Texano in the first round, Son of Havoc to beat The Mack, and ideally I would like Son of Havoc to beat Cage to win the tournament because he hasn’t really gotten to do much after Angelico got hurt and they, with Ivelisse, lost the Trios titles. I’m equally fine with Cage or The Mack winning, however if Mack wins I’d like him to beat Son of Havoc to do so in the finals. But that would require Cage to go out in the first round which I find very unlikely – and I actually expect him to win. But as long as Texano doesn’t win I won’t be bugged by the result! (Unless winner is banished from the temple – then Texano can go!) Really I’m just looking for matchups I haven’t seen before, and Son of Havoc vs. Mack and Cage we haven’t really seen – at least not one on one. Cage and The Mack opened UltimaLucha last season and that was good too.

Prediction: Cage

Elimination Match for the Gift of the Gods Championship
Sexy Star vs. Marty the Moth vs. Mariposa vs. Killshot vs. Siniestro De La Muerte vs. Night Claw vs. DagaMy guess, since this is an elimination match, is that this and one other match will take up the second show of UltimaLucha Dos. Which one will main event that show will depend on what the other match is. (I have two to four guesses for what that will be.) The standouts for possible victors in this match are Sexy Star, the new guy Night Claw, or maybe Marty or Mariposa. But without seeing Night Claw, the person I’d say is most likely to win this match is Sexy Star – she had one of, if not the best match of the season with Mariposa and is most likely to keep doing bigger things. Marty and Killshot are feuding, Daga is really new and something with Kobra Moon is going to happen, and Siniestro just kind of exists. He’s cool but he’s done basically nothing.

Prediction: Sexy Star

El Dragon Azteca, Jr. vs. Black Lotus
This should be interesting. Black Lotus first appeared in early season one, and this is her in ring debut. (At least within Lucha Underground.) Black Lotus killed EDA Jr.’s and her mentor during the first UltimaLucha after Dario told her that EDA killed her parents, not his brother Matanza. Meanwhile EDA Jr. still thought Matanza killed EDA and her parents and doesn’t know why she’s been acting as Dario’s bodyguard. Now they have a match and EDA Jr. knows that she killed their mentor. This is probably one of the more difficult matches to predict considering it’s Black Lotus’s first match. I’m not sure where they want to go with the story. I can see this opening the second show.

Prediction: El Dragon Azteca, Jr.

Death Match
King Cuerno vs. Mil Muertes with Catrina
I could see this being the main event of the second show after Gift of the Gods because of the stipulation. Anyways, this should be great – I wonder if someone’s going to get put through a building. I expect Mil to win here – Cuerno got a win with help from the ropes on the last show but I don’t think he’s going to be able to beat Mil when weapons are not only encouraged, they’re allowed.

Prediction: Mil Muertes

La Wera Loca vs. La Sicaria
Taya vs. IvelisseHave I mentioned that Ivelisse is awesome? Because she is. Also, why WWE let her go is WWE’s loss. Anyways! Taya is also awesome but she’s infringing on Ivelisse’s turf and that is just not acceptable. (On an unrelated note, Ivelisse shares a birthday with Allison Scagliotti who is more accurately Taya’s little nickname on this image and that if you’re born on 9/21 you will be a total badass.)

Prediction: Ivelisse

Trios Championship
(c) Johnny Mundo, Jack Evans, and PJ Black (c) vs. Fenix, Drago, and Aero Star
This match should be great. I enjoy that this combines a lot of different stories starting near the beginning of the season. Jack Evans and Drago from the beginning of the season, then PJ Black joined Jack and they attacked Drago in the back only for Aero Star to come to his aide. Jack and PJ were teamed up with Fenix in the trios tournament but lost. Then Mundo took out Fenix, joined Jack and PJ and they won the Trios Titles and here we are. I would very much like the Aerial Assholes to retain their titles – and it’s possible that they will. If I had to guess which of the three titles will come out of the show on rudos, it’s this one. But I could see them losing, too.

Prediction: Johnny Mundo, Jack Evans, and PJ Black

Prince Puma vs. Rey Mysterio, Jr.
This match should be great. Let’s just make sure Puma wins, ok? And I think he will.

Prediction: Prince Puma

Lucha Underground Championship
Matanza Cueto (c) vs. Pentagon, Jr.
A season ago, we only got to see Matanza’s mask for two seconds at the end of UltimaLucha. Now he’s the champion, and he destroys all that are put in his way. Like Pentagon, whose back he broke earlier in the season. But, Pentagon was the breakout star of season one, and if I had to bet on who would come out of this season as the champion, he is it. He started the season by breaking Mil Muertes’s arm on the first show. He had matches with Puma and with Puma and Mil before Matanza injured him. Now he’s back and if he can’t beat Matanza, I ask you, who can?

Prediction: Pentagon, Jr.

Other questions that I want answered before the show ends for the season:

1) How will the Joey Ryan, Mr Cisco, and Cortez Castro story play out? They aren’t in matches, and it’s too big of a story from this season to not have a conclusion.

2) Who was the guy in the limo at the end of one of the shows that said he running things? Or something?

Anyways, the show takes place over the next three weeks. So there won’t be any posts about it until after. If you like wrestling and haven’t watched Lucha Underground, do yourself a favor. Now’s the time.